Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Minister K J George was today reinducted into the Siddaramaiah ministry, close on the heels of being given a clean chit by the CID in a case related to the alleged suicide of a Deputy Superintendent of Police.

George, a close confidant of the Chief Minister, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Vajubhai Vala at a ceremony held in Raj Bhavan.

George had resigned on July 18, soon after a court in Madikeri in Kodagu district directed police to register an FIR against him and two police officers in connection with the suicide of 51-year-old M K Ganapathy.

Ganapathy was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room at a lodge in Madikeri on July 7, prior to which he gave an interview to a local TV channel saying the Minister and AM Prasad (now Commissioner for Traffic and Road Safety) and Pranab Mohanty (now on central deputation as Additional Deputy Director General of UIDAI) would be responsible “if anything happens to me.”

The court had issued directions based on a private criminal complaint by Ganapathy’s son, Nehal, requesting it to direct police to take up investigation against the minister and the officers for allegedly abetting his father’s suicide.

Karnataka CID, which investigated the case, on September 17 gave a clean chit to George and two senior police officers in its ‘B’ report, filed in a court in Madikeri.

George is likely to retain Bengaluru Development and Town Planning portfolio, which he had held when he stepped down amid a huge political storm in the state with the Opposition gunning for him. He had also held the Home portfolio earlier.

With the reinduction of George, the strength of the Siddaramaiah ministry now stands at 34, the maximum constitutional limit for the state. Siddaramaiah, his cabinet colleagues, Congress legislators and senior government officials were present at the swearing-in.

Both opposition parties BJP and JD(S) have taken exception to the reinduction of George. Earlier this month, Siddaramaiah on September 5 had expanded his Cabinet by inducting M Krishnappa into his Ministry.

In a major revamp of his ministry on June 20, the Chief Minister had sacked 14 ministers and inducted 13 members into his Council of Ministry which had led to discontent within the Congress with several senior leaders openly coming out against the party’s state leadership.

Ahead of the CID filing its report in the Madikeri court, Ganapathy’s father and brother had moved the High Court, seeking a CBI probe into his death for a free, fair and impartial investigation which they said “could not be expected from the CID”.

Ganapathy’s father M K Kushalappa and brother M K Machaiah, who suspected foul play in the death of the police officer, had contended that CID was likely to close the probe with a “B” report by giving a “clean chit” to George and the two police officials.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking modification of its September 20 order directing the state to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka explained to the court that it is not in a position to release any more water to Tamil Nadu due to low storage in its reservoirs in the Cauvery basin. It said that the 42,000 cusecs of water, should be treated as ‘arrears’ and can be released by the end of December.

The state also brought to the court’s notice the resolution passed by both the Houses of the legislature on September 23, that the existing water in the Cauvery basin reservoirs in Karnataka should be used only for drinking purpose and not for any other needs.

Though the Supervisory Committee headed by Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water from September 21 to September 30, the Court later directed the state to release 6,000 cusecs water till September 27.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: After the Karnataka CID gave a clean chit to former minister KJ George and two senior police officers in connection with the alleged suicide of Deputy Superintendent of Police M K Ganapathy, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will reinstated KJ George as minister in the Karnataka Cabinet on Monday.

After his reinstatement, George might be re-allotted the Bengaluru Development portfolio.

The Bengaluru MLA was forced to resign as Bengaluru minister after an FIR was filed against him.

Before hanging himself to death, Ganapathy (51) had given an interview to a local TV channel alleging that George and senior IPS officers Pranob Mohanthy and AM Prasad had harassed him, and that they were responsible for his impending suicide.

The incident had kicked up a huge storm in the state.

Although the government ordered an investigation, George had not stepped down as minister.

Ganapathy’s son Nehal then lodged private complaint with a court in Madikeri, which ordered an FIR to be filed against George. It was after this, that George resigned.

Congress Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao maintained that there had been no need for George to resign. However, George had done so as he did not want to embarrass the party.

Eventually, the CID had filed its B Report to the Madikeri Court stating that there is no clear evidence against three who were named in the case and a clean chit was given.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday cancelled the parole of Sahara chief Subrata Roy and two other directors and directed to take them into custody.

A bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur cancelled the “interim arrangements” of granting him parole after market regulator SEBI’s counsel Pratap Venugopal told the bench that all the properties given by Sahara to the market regulator were already under attachment by Income Tax authorities.

Apparantly annoyed over this, the Chief Justice immediately ordered the cancellation of parole and directed Roy and the two other directors to be taken into custody and they will remain so till october 3 when the matter will again be taken up for hearing.

(Agencies)

New Delh: Several Muslim, Christian and Dalit organisations on Friday staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar here, demanding a ban on “cow vigilantism” and sought passage of the Communal Violence Bill.

The protesters also submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee, urging him to play his role in defending the constitutional rights of the people “who are increasingly being persecuted” allegedly under the NDA government at the Centre.

“We demand the cow vigilantism be banned and people be allowed to eat the food of their choice,” All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat president Navaid Hamid said.

“A commission should be formed to report whether the recent events are part of organised crimes orchestrated by parties to polarise votes for political mileage and to suggest proper mechanism to prevent deterioration of democratic system by overuse of polarisation tactics leading to vast loss of lives and properties and displacement of people from their cozy homes,” Jamat-e-Islami Hind vice-president Nusrat Ali said.

Maulana Abdul Hameed, General Secretary of Jamiatul Ulama Hind, demanded that judicial inquiry be initiated in major cases that occurred in Dadri, Dingerhedi, Paida village of Bijnore and the killing of youth allegedly by cow vigilantes in Ahmedabad.

“The Communal Violence Bill should be made a law as soon as possible so that communal forces should be suitably dealt with for maintaining peace and law and order in the country,” he said.

The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005, seeks to empower the government to prevent and control communal violence, provide for speedy investigation and trial of offences and rehabilitate victims of such violence.

The protesters also demanded that due compensation should be paid by governments concerned to the victims and their families and a standard method be evolved for equal compensation to people across the communities and proper rules be devised for immediate relief to affected families.

Other organisations which participated in the protest include Lokraj Sanghtan, Dalit Federation AMOD, All India Shia Council and Students Islamic Organisation of India.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Legislative Council on Friday unanimously decided not to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, saying the water was needed for drinking purposes in the state.

A special session of the house was convened to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court’s September 20 order to Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water daily till September 27.

After the subject was discussed, the Council passed a unanimous resolution that the water in the dams would be used for drinking purposes in the state and that the water cannot be released to Tamil Nadu.

(Agencies)